Mark Cavendish won the final stage of the Tour de France with another magnificent sprint, beating his nearest rival by over 30 metres at the famous finish on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

It takes his stage wins for this year's Tour to six and his tally overall to 10. Last week he had eclipsed Barry Hoban's record for a British rider of eight and it is only the 24-year-old's second Tour.

Today's 164km stage began in Montereau-Fault-Yonne and continued in the predictable fashion. At the beginning it was a procession, as the last stage of the Tour often is by tradition, the yellow jersey wearer Alberto Contador smiling for cameras and accepting the congratulations of the peloton.

Then came the break, with a group of seven riders attempting to steal the glory from the sprinters in Paris. In a routine that has become familiar in the past three weeks Cavendish's Columbia HTC team-mates began chasing down the breakaway group in earnest around 15km from the finish, as the peloton snaked its way around the Paris loop which is the traditional Tour finale.

The break splintered into two groups 8km from the finish but by then the catch was inevitable and Columbia drove the pace to swallow up the final three riders in the closing kilometres.

Columbia set an intimidating pace in the final two kilometres and then Cavendish got such a tremendous lead from his team-mate Mark Renshaw that 100m from the line they were some way clear of every other rider. Cavendish gave everything to the final push nonetheless, celebrating heartily as he crossed the line, arms aloft. Renshaw also celebrated as he came in second, with Tyler Farrar in third and the green-jersey winner, Thor Hushovd, sixth.

Result of the 164-km 21st and final stage of the Tour de France from Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris